Lay or/and professional: Those who are affected by the issue from the public

The partners invited to RPP were four types- the university-based teachers/researchers, the women/service users, the NGO organisation- SAOL Woman's Project and the social work students.

The co-coordinating (university-based) teachers/researchers had pre-existing relationships and were already well established with the NGO through educational outreach and community development - these were at the centre of the community participatory research approach. This is acknowledged as an important asset, as researchers are seen to have a track record which facilitates collaboration (Greenlick and Freeborn, 1986).

The women can, in some way, be described as a homogenous community of service users with specific histories of addiction problems. They have selected themselves from the broader community/organisation to provide the teaching. This is a particularly important group with these intersecting identities and needs (women/addictions).

The students were already very familiar with reflective practice and convinced that 'through reflection as social workers we can change how we think, feel and behave to meet the needs of service users and carers better' (Knott & Scragg, 2013, p. 54). 

SAOL is an experienced NGO committed to education and inclusiveness and was very enthusiastic about developing the assessment initiative. The Director checked to see if service users would be interested. To support the initiative, SAOL were prepared to provide any additional counselling or support that engagement with this project might demand. This was an important condition for research ethical approval. Its role is described in Ways and Strategies.

References:

Loughran, H. & Broderick, G. (2017) From service-user to social work examiner: not a bridge too far, Social Work Education, 36:2, 188-202, DOI: 10.1080/02615479.2016.1268592